Twitter Buys Mobile A/B Testing Startup Clutch.io

Photo: Peter McCollough/Wired

Twitter has acquired A/B app testing startup Clutch.io. The news, which Clutch.io announced on its company blog, revealed that the company’s founders will join Twitter’s team. Twitter confirmed the deal to Wired, saying it acquired Clutch.io for its intellectual property.

Clutch.io helps app developers test different features to get feedback from its users on Android or iOS. With analytics from the startup, developers can see whether a “free sign up” button works better than a “register” button. App developers can choose how many users experience each feature or change, and based on test results hone their app to make it more appealing. The company also offers a code-building framework that can be used to send out app updates quickly.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed by Clutch.io or Twitter. Clutch.io founders Eric Maguire and Eric Florenzano have joined Twitter’s growth and international team, starting Monday. Clutch.io says the company will begin to shut down its own hosted services starting Nov. 1, but that its users can host Clutch.io on their own servers.

Twitter’s mobile presence is already strong, with dedicated apps for all major devices — Android, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Windows Phone, and Nokia (kid you not, there is a Symbian version). The acquisition could help Twitter update its mobile apps with greater frequency, as well as making them more uniform across various mobile platforms.

This is Twitter’s sixth acquisition in 2012, the most of any year in the company’s 6-year history.